Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) has submitted the Australian Forest
Certification Scheme (AFCS) for re-endorsement by PEFC.
AFS first achieved the endorsement
in 2004 with Australia among the first non-European countries to be recognised
by PEFC. Since then, over 10 million hectares of forest have been certified in
Australia, making up two-thirds of the certified forest area in the Asia
Pacific region.
The endorsement process involves a 60-day global public consultation
wherein PEFC seeks comments and feedback from all interested parties to ensure
full compliance of the national systems with PEFC's Sustainability Benchmark. All
comments received during the global public consultation will be evaluated by the
third-party assessor to determine whether the respective national system is in
compliance with international requirements.
Interested stakeholders can use PEFC's Online Consultation Tool to
provide comments on the Australian Forest Certification Scheme by 29 September
2014.
